I will confess, I did not attend the public vigil for the 40th Anniversary of the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act because I am heartbroken. Someone contacted me more than five weeks ago who had evidence proving the cattle–not the wild horses–are damaging the range in the Calico Complex but they are holding back.

Most of the majestic Calico wild horses have been rounded up and torn from their families but they have not all been processed and shipped out to long-term holding . . . not yet.

I lit a candle on December 15th praying that the person with the evidence would come forward so we could prove this roundup was conducted under false pretenses and return the Calico wild horses and burros to their wild homes.

“The BLM’s disruption of wild horses in the beautiful Calico mountains of Nevada is more than removing animals . . . It is also destruction of the American West . . . for money,” writes Michael Blake, Oscar-winning screenwriter and author of Dances with Wolves.

In all time zones, email, fax or call your senators and representatives to let them know that “Old Gold”, an American wild horse was rounded up near Gerlach, Nevada on November 19th and euthanized later by the BLM because of being old. At the trap site she was traumatized, slammed into a metal panel and was surely injured. Explain that BLM is not counting her death as a roundup-related death. Tell them Old Gold is an example BLM’s poor accountability and using tax dollars for animal cruelty. Remind them that Congress gives BLM $75 million annually for this broken program. Ask Congress to stop the Calico roundup and freeze all others until an independent, accurate headcount is made and a sustainable manage plan proves that more wild horses and burros need to be removed to have thriving natural ecological balance (TNEB).

“The roundups in the Ruby Pipeline zone are questionable,” states Katie Fite, biologist and biodiversity specialist. “The public is not being told the truth. There needs to be an investigation within all levels of BLM considering the unavoidable damage to our public lands. There is no mitigation provided for to restore this biologically wild, remote, and untrammeled landscape in northwestern Nevada and southeastern Oregon.”

We see TNEB in Calico except for industrialization and right of way projects like the Ruby Pipeline. Wild horses and burros are not the problem. Be sure to let YOUR representatives in government know how you feel.

WASHINGTON (November 21, 2011)— Protect Mustangs launches their campaign and petition to stop the frivolous Calico roundup in northern Nevada near the town of Gerlach, known for Burning Man. The mustang advocacy group joins with advocates and the disgruntled public asking President Obama to stop the expensive winter roundup before it becomes deadly. The 2010 Calico roundup was the deadliest roundup in history with 160 deaths attributed to it. Protect Mustangs asks that all other roundups be put on hold until a sustainable plan is agreed to by all sides of the issue.

“There is no accurate head count and estimates cannot justify an expensive roundup when thriving natural ecological balance (TNEB) exists on the range,” explains Anne Novak, Founder and Director of Protect Mustangs. “This country is in the middle of a financial crises. We can’t afford to waste more money on cruel roundups, removals and warehousing. The money being spent on this roundup could be used to help the American people get back on their feet.”

Last year the BLM spent more than 75 million dollars on the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Advocates want to know how that money was spent—line by line.

“They are wasting our tax money on roundups instead of using a small fraction of that money to improve the range,” states Lisa Friday, Board Member of Protect Mustangs. “We want to see wild horses freed from long-term holding and returned to the West—to roam freely on their herd management areas (HMAs) as Congress intended.”

Today close to 39,000 American wild horses live in long-term holding facilities—away from their native habitat. Less than 13,850 live on public land in ten western states. In 1900, 2 million wild horses roamed freely in America.

Currently, in the Calico Complex HMA, more than half a million acres, can easily support the less than 1,000 wild horses and burros living there. Livestock currently outnumbers wild horses more than 50 to 1. Protect Mustangs wants to make sure that the mustangs are not scapegoated for damage to the range caused by livestock.

Wild horses are being removed from their range at breakneck speed to make room for ‘the New Energy Frontier’. Protect Mustangs wants a sustainable management plan for the wild horses of the West.

“It’s not ‘green’ to wipe out an indigenous species to create an industrialized zone for producing so-called renewables on public land, states Novak. “There must be a way to find a win-win for the wild horses, the other wildlife, the livestock and the energy projects in the West. We want engagement from all sides to solve this problem.”

Meanwhile Protect Mustangs asks President Obama to stop the Calico roundup and put all other roundups on hold until a real sustainable plan is agreed to by all sides of the issue.

The Salazar Plan was announced in Fall 2009 and the result was nationwide public outcry and protests. The administration disregarded the will of the people and forged ahead with a dysfunctional policy destined to zero out the American wild horse.

‘Now we want change for the good,” states Lisa Friday “We want the administration to stop wasting money on a bad plan.”

Protect Mustangs is a California-based non-profit whose mission is to inform the public about the mustang crisis, protect America’s wild horses on the range and help those who lost their freedom.